Davina aka Dawn Devine = Author + Dancer + Artist + Costume Designer

August 27, 2018

Museum of London: Pleasure Garden

One of my biggest passions is attending a really great museum exhibition. If the exhibition features historic costumes, even better! I especially enjoy visiting cultural or social history museums that document the development of history and people from a particular place.

To preserve these fragile vintage textiles, the lights are kept quite low, so many of my photos are a bit grainy and a little blurry. For me, however, these photos represent some of my happiest travel memories.

Museum of London

Perhaps is one of my personal top 10 for the city of London. There is sooo much to see and do in London, that making a top 10 is pretty difficult. But over the years it’s become quite clear that this is one of my favorite museums. I try to visit every time I’m in the city, and most of the time I actually make it there! Visit their website for more info.

The Museum of London is located at the Barbican center, a sprawling mixed-use complex that includes entertainment venues, restaurants, exhibition spaces, and dwellings. It’s brutalist structure is not to everyone’s taste, but it’s a great place to explore.

The Pleasure Garden

This exhibit was set up to showcase the items selected from the vast collection of garments, textiles, dress accessories, and ephemera. The exhibit was artfully dressed to give the garments context. During the Georgian era, visiting the newly established pleasure gardens was quite exciting. These gardens were the ancestors of the modern concert venues, theme parks, and carnivals. Learn more about these Georgian era London pleasure gardens in this informative blog post.

Redressing the Exhibit

Timothy Long a fashion curator at the Museum of London has a fascinating Instagram channel and I avidly follow him. During the latest redressing of this exhibition in the winter of 2017/18, he posted many behind the scenes photos and video clips. Now that the exhibit has been refreshed, I look forward to a return visit.